Protecting Freedom

WEBISODE 9

As trainees near graduation they must first pass the Warrior Challenge, an event designed to test how well they’ve learned their new skills.

I’m Private Justin Erceg; I’m Specialist Christopher Wynn.

Erceg:
This week was our Warrior Challenge, it’s the last big event we have before the end of basis training.

Wynn:
This training exercise is culminating everything that we’ve learned from the first week to this final week before graduation.

Erceg:
Well on the road marches we did the 15K yesterday, I pretty much just try to go into my own little world, I just keep going off of just will power.

Wynn:
Kind of zone out either count, sing songs or do something just to get my mind off of the actual task of walking so many miles.

Erceg:
During the warrior challenge, which is right now, we’re at a FOB, which stands for Forward Operating Base. It has tents, Check Points, anything you need to live in the FOB.

The purpose of the patrol is to give you and to understand what it will be like in Iraq or Afghanistan if you do get deployed. You’re going to be doing road marches and patrols and stuff when you get deployed. So this really gave me a better understanding of what’s gonna happen in the real world.

Now that we’re at Blue Phase towards the end of basic training the drill sergeants tend to give us more one-on-one attention and it helps us a lot more. We’re almost done with the Warrior Challenge and after that we have graduation, which I’m really looking forward to.

Wynn:
So right now we’re just all trying to come together and make that last step forward before we become those future Soldiers of America.